Welt-guide for sewing-machines



' (1% Model'.) W. AIKEN.

WELT GUIDE FOR; SEWING MACHINES.

No. 334,404. a Patented Jan. 19, 1886.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVALTER AIKEN, OF FRANKLIN FALLS, NEV HAMPSHIRE.

WELT-GUIDE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334:,404, dated January 19, 1886.

Application filed October 25, 183. Serial No.109.934.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER AIKEN, of Franklin Falls, county of Merrimac, State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement in VVelt-Guides for SewingMachines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object improvements in certain parts of a sewing-machine whereby a fabric folded upon itself to form three layers of material may be sewed to form a welt, the eye-pointed needle penetratingthe fabric at its inner or wrong side, the raw or out free edge ofthe fabric beyond the line of stitching which completes the welt, being extended under the vertical face or guiding-edge of the gage,while the material which enters into the completed welt is passed under that part of the presser which is located outside the vertical face of the gage.

My improved gage is more especially adapted to be used when sewing knitted goods and while forming the welted ends of stockings, shirts, 8m.

For the formation of a welt in accordance with my method of folding and stitching, so that the folded part of the fabric to be stitched may be kept in plain sight while being stitched, a portion of the fabric of greater length than twice the width of the welt to be made isfolded outwardly and backwardly upon itself, and thereafter more than one-half of the length of the fabric so folded back is turned over in the opposite direction, making a third layer, and the free cut or raw end is extended somewhat outward beyond the folded part of the fabric which is to be stitched to form the inner edge of the completed welt, and while the latter is being stitched the folded part of the fabric in the line of stitching rests against the Vertical face of the gage,while the free or cut edge extension of the fabric beyond the seam made to form the welt is extended under the gage-face, such folding of the knitted fabric enabling the needle to penetrate the fold made in the fabric before it penetrates the third or outermost layer of fabric near its free end, as will be hereinafter described,whereby the projecting raw or cut edge is kept out of the way, and

(No model.)

' the operator is enabled to keep the folded part to be stitched in plain sight.

Figure l in top View represents a portion of.

the cloth-plate of a Willcox & Gibbs or other sewing-machine adapted to make a stitch suitable for sewing knitted goods, a presser-foot attached to a presser-bar shown in section, and a piece of knitted fabric folded and presented under the said gage and presser-foot for the production of a welt in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. 1 along the dotted linear m. Fig. 3 is a section of the gage, Fig. 1, on the dotted line 3 y. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing by full lines a section of a knitted tube with the first fold made therein, the second fold being shown by dotted lines; and Fig. 5 shows the completed welt.

The bed or cloth plate A, presser-bar B, attachment-screw O, feeding device D, and nee.- dle E are all substantially as in the VVillcox & Gibbs sewingmachine.

My improved gage is composed of an adj ustable plate, 6, having a substantially vertical guide-face, f, the said plate being, however, cut away at its under side to form a space, 9, below the lip h, which space is adapted to receive the raw or out free edge 2 of the knitted or other fabric, m, which, folded, as shown in Fig. 2, is to be entered by the eye-pointed needle E, the thread of which, co-operating with a suitable hook or under thread-carrier,is concatenated to form a stitch. This fabric m (shown as a knitted tubular fabric) is first folded outward and backward upon itself, as shown in full lines, Fig. 4, by the letter in, forming a fold, 3, and thereafter the part mis turned backward,as designated in dotted lines, Fig. 4, and full lines, Fig. 2, making afold, 4, and a third superimposed layer, which is marked W, the free raw or cut edge of which, marked 2, is entered into the space 9, while the fold3 rests and moves against the guide-facef. The stitches a, formed by the needle-thread, are suitably held or enchained after the needle penetrates the fold 3 and the layer m The line of stitches nforms the layers mm between the said stitches and the fold 4 into a welt, and thereafter in any desired or usual Way the projecting edge 2 may be trimmed off next the said fold 3 and line of stitches, and the welt be reversed, leaving the end of the fabric or article with a finished welt, as at Fig. 5. toe 6 of the presser-foot G, outside the guidefacef, rests, it will be seen, above three layers of fabric, m m m, but that part of the foot which extends over the free cut or raw edge 2 comes in contact with only the said edge 2. The recess at the under side of the plate a is of sufficient depth vertically to permit the serrated bars of the usual foumnotioned feeding device, D, to rise far enough to engage the knitted fabric and force it against the parts above the said fabric with sufficient force to effect the proper grasp thereof to insure the feeding of the fabric without slip. The gageface f, from near the needle,is cut away to enable the presser-foot to rest upon the raw or cut edge 2 outside the line of stitches or seam which completes the welt.

I am aware that a welt has been formed by folding a part of a tubular fabric upon itself, as in Patent No. 255,580; but therein the raw or cut edge is uppermost when the weltis being stitched and the fold at the point 3 cannot be seen by the operator, except by lifting the said edge or looking under it, and considera- The ble difficulty is experienced in keeping the fold 3 in proper position with relation to the gageface and needle, all of which difficulty is overcome by extending the raw or cut edge 2 under the gage-face instead of over it.

I claim- In a sewing-machine, the combination, with a presseri'oot cut away on one side to form a toe, 6, of a gage having an extended guiding portion, f, mainly in front ofsaid presser-foot, to guide the fold 3 of the welt, a recess rearward of said guiding portion for the reception of said presserfoot, and a recess below said guiding portion for the reception of the projecting edge 2 of material, whereby the folded material may be properly held and guided, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

W'A LTER AIKEN.

Witnesses:

FRANK PROCTOR, ALEXIs PROCTOR. 

